A former Chinese soldier who lent his six children out to criminal gangs and regularly beat them has had them taken away by the authorities.

The court in Shangcheng county, a remote rural region of Henan province, ruled that Liu Mingju was not fit to raise the children, who are left solely in his care because his wife, Li Shaoju, is mentally disabled.

The farmer spent just 10 days in detention but the four boys and two girls, aged between one and 15, are now under the custody of the county’s civil affairs authority, Beijing Youth Daily reported.

In a televised interview broadcast on pearvideo.com Liu admitted his failings, but said he sometimes tied his younger sons to their beds for their own good.

“I do odd jobs on construction sites, dig wells and ditches. There are iron shovels and other tools scattered around the home,” he said.

He also said that he and his wife had had two other children. He claimed that one, a girl, had been kidnapped and was still missing and the other, a boy, had died when the mother poured boiling water on him in a fit of insanity.

No evidence was provided to support his claims.

He also said he had wanted more children to help in the search for the missing girl.

Following the court’s decision, the eldest child was directed to live with her grandparents while the other five will be placed in the local orphanage.

In August Liu’s neighbours called the police after they found Liu’s fourth child, a four-year-old boy, bound to the bed in their sweltering bungalow.

The boy complained that his father would often tie him and his siblings to the bed.

“Sometimes he hangs us up to beat us mercilessly,” he told pearvideo.com.

The village authority filed a lawsuit against Liu, who spent three years in the army, for abuse. Police detained him, but he was released after 10 days to allow him to care for his wife.